Tax Office gets tough on defaults

Companies that fail to pay taxes will face consequences, Nguyen Thi Hai Yen, head of the Department of Communications and Support Office of the Ha Noi Tax Office, told Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper.

Tax authorities have already released a list of 23 businesses that have defaulted on tax payments. Do you think this is a tough decision?

Budget collection is the most important task of any tax offices, not only for the Ha Noi Tax Office. Of course, to accomplish the task, we have to conduct communications campaigns.

We have released a list of 23 big businesses that have defaulted on tax payments and 15 projects that have failed to pay land-use fees in the first stage. In the pipeline, we plan to make public the name of another 50 businesses having defaulted on tax payments and 13 projects that have not paid land-use fees.

Why didn't you do this in the past?

Before releasing their names, our office was forced to take tough measures to recover the debts in accordance with the laws. For example, we deducted money from the accounts of the businesses registered in the State Treasury or credit organisations. We also asked these financial units to freeze their accounts.

If, the money frozen in their accounts was smaller than the sum of tax payments, we then release name to the public. In 2014, we made public the names of 77 companies that owed the State taxes.

Following the publication of these names in the mass media, many enterprises voluntarily came to our office to pay their overdue tax. But, this year, the list of businesses with overdue tax was much bigger, particularly those involved in property and construction.

What will your office do if these businesses still refuse to pay their due tax?

We'll retrieve their tax code, their invoices will be invalidated and their business licences revoked.

If the tax office invalidates their invoices, does this mean your office has brought the businesses to the verge of bankruptcy?

To solve this problem, we have petitioned to the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Taxation to allow businesses having their invoices invalidated to print their own invoices. However, in special cases, we'll allow them to use bills of sale provided by the tax office.

Among businesses having defaulted on tax payments, some of them really have financial difficulties, including real-estate companies. Do you have a special policy for them?

Businesses claiming to have problems in their operations, including real estate companies, will be examined closely. If they satisfy some of our conditions, we'll allow them to pay their tax in installments within 12 months. But they must obtain guarantees from a credit organisation and pay a fee of 0.05 per cent per day. — VNS